Zach Kahn
Hi, my name is Zach. I’m a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist dedicated to helping individuals navigate their journeys through life’s challenges. I work with patients from teens to adults, focusing on helping them move through suffering and toward the lives they deserve. In my practice, I intentionally use the word "patients" because it comes from the root meaning "to suffer," and I believe my role is to guide people through their suffering. I blend evidence-based practices like Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Therapy to reduce immediate symptoms such as anxiety, depression, or trauma. Once we’ve addressed those immediate struggles, we dive deeper with long-term strategies like inner child work and narrative reframing to help you heal and grow into the best version of yourself. I’m here to support you in transforming your story and finding a path to a more fulfilling life. If this resonates with you, I’d be honored to walk that journey with you.
First session
Our first session will generally be what is called an assessment or intake interview. I will generally ask a lot of diagnostic and history taking questions like: "what brings you in for therapy today of all days," "tell me about your life up till your symptoms started," and "If I were a therapy genie and could grant you one wish related to your time in therapy, what would you wish to be different/what would show you that therapy worked?" These questions give me an idea of what your reason(s) for seeking therapy are, as well as giving both of us a feel for what the personality 'fit' feels like in the therapeutic relationship. Generally, by the end of our first session, both my patients and I have a good idea of whether or not it feels right to continue working together. If -for any reason- another provider would be a better fit for a potential patient, I will always provide referrals for individual and family therapists who I believe would best serve that patient's needs.
Strengths
My style is based around the idea that a session is two human sitting down and talking frankly with one another. I attempt to incorporate compassionate, authentic insight about the connection your thoughts, personality traits, and behaviors have in preventing you from being satisfied with your life. I am person centered, which mean I tailor the types of therapies I use to the needs and temperament of each patient individually. I am able to use more cognitive-behavioral approaches with patients wanting to solve particular problems like performance anxiety at work, while working with another person wanting to explore their early childhood trauma using a more expressive arts therapy framework. Ultimately though, I believe one of my greatest strengths in my profound confidence in your ability to change. I will always meet each and every client with equal effort to what they are pouring in to our work, and I know that together, we will build a new life worth living; step by step.
Ideal clients
I see the therapeutic process as two humans making a commitment to be as honest and authentic as possible in the search for your best version of you. I have spent several years having the privilege of working with teenagers dealing with addictions, self harm, depression, and so many other serious mental health challenges in residential treatment. Since changing milieus, I have gotten the opportunity to work with people of all ages -from the very young to the very old-, who have helped me understand that I could not say that I have an "ideal" patient. Instead, I would encourage patients who are thinking of working with me to ask themselves: am I willing to show up to each session and do the best I can today? As a provider, I attempt to meet each patient where they are at in their lives...and this is often different on a weekly basis! However, if a patient is willing to do their best to show up to each session, be brave, and work as a team with me to walk through their darkness together, I will do the same.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
Serves
Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 150691